Do you worry about a bladder leak when you laugh, jump, sneeze or cough? Does your bladder wake you up multiple times a night demanding to be emptied? Do you get no warning that you need to urinate and can’t quite make it to the washroom in time? Do you have to wear incontinence pads or panty liners? Are you concerned about odor? These are all symptoms of stress or urge incontinence and are a sign that your pelvic floor muscles are letting you (and your bladder!) down.
Incontinence is a life-changing problem for over 200 million men and women worldwide, most of whom are too embarrassed to speak to doctors or even friends about the problem. Being unable to trust our body to maintain urinary control can mean social anxiety and lower self-confidence.
No Laughing Matter
There are three main types of incontinence; firstly, urge incontinence, which has sufferers constantly looking for the nearest washroom, and living with being exhausted from continuously getting up throughout the night. Secondly, stress incontinence, which is characterized by involuntary leaks occurring as a result of everything from coughing, sneezing, lifting, exercising, and laughing, and finally, mixed, which results in a combination of the two. Whichever form you experience, incontinence is no laughing matter.
Women typically face a much higher risk for urinary incontinence. The pelvic floor supports the urogenital organs almost like a sling, and they can be stretched and weakened by childbirth, menopause, obesity, or urogenital (e.g. prostate) surgery. When the pelvic floor muscles become deconditioned, we can longer control our bladder, and the involuntary loss of urine inevitably follows. Consequently, millions of men and women, of all ages, activity, and fitness levels are affected.
The Good News
It’s reassuring to know that most people can recover from urinary incontinence by re-educating their pelvic floor muscles.
Treatment involves sitting fully clothed on the BTL Emsella® chair (“EM” for electromagnetic and “sella”, which is Latin for chair), which uses electromagnetic energy to cause deep pelvic floor muscle stimulation, rebuilding the deconditioned muscles to support your pelvic organs, and ultimately restoring control of the bladder. In one 28-minute session, the Emsella chair stimulates the equivalent to 11,000 supramaximal (i.e. incredibly powerful), perfectly executed Kegels. Even if you think you’re pretty good at doing Kegels, on average you can only recruit about 40% of your muscle strength, and it would take you 70 straight hours of regular Kegels to reach the 11,000 count!
Treatment is easy: Sit on the chair, relax and let Emsella do all the work! Wear your street clothes and get up and return to your normal activities immediately after. A treatment series involves 6 sessions of 28 minutes each, with follow-up sessions every 6-12 months. For most people, the sessions will be twice weekly for 3 weeks, and optimal results are usually observed about 2 weeks after completing your series. Many patients report a noticeable positive effect on their bladder control after just one session.
Sweet Dreams
You’ll begin to notice you aren’t waking up to pee anymore! You’ll sneeze or cough and realize you didn’t need to cross your legs.
Studies show that 6 months after treatment, 95% of women report significant quality of life improvement and nearly 70% have completely eliminated or significantly reduced their use of pads.
Most people who do Emsella treatments also report an improvement in their sexual health. Men report improvement in erectile dysfunction, while women experience firming and tightening of the lower vagina, and stronger orgasms. Not all side effects are bad!
There’s no need to suffer in silence anymore… the team at DermaNuva is here to answer all your questions about incontinence treatment and how it can improve your life. It’s never been easier to get your confidence and continence back on track!